Valentine's Ball
by onmyside
Summary: Set in series 1. Valentine's Day will be special this year. Sybils's sixteenth birthday is celebrated with a huge ball at Downton Abbey. Will they all get their special Valentine's present?
1. Chapter 1

_I have read the Valentine's Day challenge over at LJ and then decided to make Valentine's Day the topic of this story. Maybe I will take part in the challenge. Don't know yet. But it inspired me! _

_A/N the characters are not mine. They belong to Julian Fellowes and ITV._

_Again... Charles and Elsie_**  
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><p>Lady Sybil was running along the corridors of the upstairs gallery in such a hurry that she almost knocked over Elsie who was about to check if the guest rooms were ready for tonight.<p>

"Oh I'm sorry Mrs. Hughes." She stopped and caught her breath.

"Is something the matter, Lady Sybil? You look exhausted. Can I help you with anything?" The girl's face was flushed, her cheeks red and her eyes sparkled. No, Elsie corrected herself: Lady Sybil was not exhausted she was excited.

"I'm fine Mrs. Hughes. It's just so exciting!" She turned around and went further down the corridor in a more appropriate pace but still with a bounce in her steps like a little girl. Elsie smiled at the sight. Though she would never tell Lady Sybil directly, the young woman was still so much like the young girl she once was. She was always excited about everything that happened around her and content to play in her sitting room with some crayons and a piece of paper in the afternoons instead of spending time with her older sisters. Her mother had not liked the thought of her youngest offspring spending so much time downstairs next to the kitchen and among the servants. But Sybil had always been as stubborn as she was cute and would not let her mama forbid her to come to Elsie's sitting room.

Now she was about to turn sixteen soon and Lord and Lady Grantham had decided to host an extravagant ball tonight in their daughters honour. Downstairs everyone was so busy with the preparations that she had decided to escape the hustle and bustle for just a moment to make sure that the maids had finished the guest rooms in time. Besides, it was Valentines Day and she could not stand the giggling of the young housemaids anymore. Give them one day in a year were they were allowed to flirt with the male staff and they were sure to forget their duties or to maintain discipline.

She checked the last room and was relieved that despite the hectic and chaos downstairs the girls were still able to do their work properly. Elsie closed the door to the blue room on the bachelors corridor and descended the main staircase to have a look at the drawing room. Anna and Gwen were supposed to prepare it for tonight with the help of the hallboys. They would need more chairs and an additional settee in the room to accommodate the female guests tonight.

When she opened the door it was her now who almost accidentally bumped into someone.

"Oh, Mr. Carson I'm sorry." She became aware of the tray he was still balancing in his left hand. That was close. "I was not expecting you up here."

"Never mind, Mrs. Hughes. Anna and Gwen had sent one of the boys downstairs to ask for help. They were unable to carry the large settee." he explained.

"I'm sure they managed with your assistance?" Elsie looked up to, smiling contentedly.

"Everything is ready and in order now, Mrs. Hughes." He passed her on his way out. Tray in one hand, the other brushing her hand gently.

"Very well Mr. Carson. I'll think of an adequate reward for your help later." She cast a smile at him over her shoulder before he left.

ooooo

Mrs. Patmore was shouting at Daisy for the umpteenth time today. It was a wonder that Elsie had not yet carried off a headache from the noise the cook was making since the early morning hours and besides it was astonishing that Daisy actually managed to get her work done. Despite the rants Mrs. Patmore let off. Calling her to order was certainly necessary because Daisy was often absent-minded. Though threatening the poor kitchen maid was not an option. Not as long as Elsie Hughes was housekeeper of Downton Abbey.

Elsie had planned to stay in her sitting room until luncheon to get some work done before the guests arrive but now Mrs. Patmore had overdone things.

"Mrs. Patmore!" her raised voice could easily compete with the cooks if necessary. "Stop bullying Daisy at once! You do not decide who's to be fired. Daisy is under my jurisdiction."

"But you don't have to work with her!" Mrs. Patmore snapped.

"I'm sure she has done everything that was in her power to get her work done. You must allow her to learn." They were facing each other now, Elsie furiously chewing on her lower lip and Mrs. Patmore with arms akimbo.

"She will never learn!"

"Then I'm afraid you are not a good teacher."

Mrs. Patmore gaped at her, obviously unable to come up with a fitting retort. "So, will you please stop shouting now and let Daisy do her work." Elsie straightened herself and left the kitchen to return to her sitting room. To avoid any further disturbance she closed the door behind her. The best idea would be to also lock it, she thought but she could not do that during the day.

She sat down at her desk, took her pen and started to concentrate on the linen book a task that usually absorbed her so much that she could not think of anything else. But today she could not find distraction. Her thoughts wandered back to their encounter in the blue room earlier. She had promised him a reward for his effort and could think of nothing else but the small box she had stored in the back of the top drawer of her desk.

ooooo

"Why is it raining?" Lady Mary stood in front of the glass doors that led from the library to the patio. The rain had not stopped all day. It was pouring down since the early morning hours. Charles was awake since five in the morning because the raindrops had drummed against his bedroom window.

"It's February milady. It will either snow or rain." He answered seriously.

"I know that Carson, but it's Valentine's Day. Can't we have a more romantic weather?" she turned around to face the butler.

"What, if I may ask milady, is a romantic weather?"

"Oh Carson, I think you will never understand this," she sighed obviously believing that a butler could not have romantic feelings at all and would therefore not know what she meant. "Snow is romantic. A sundown is romantic, anything but pouring rain."

For him, the rain was the most romantic thing he could wish for today. It meant that he had an excuse to go over to Elsie's sitting room later at night and take her into his arms to cuddle her. She was always feeling exceptionally cold when it rained. He almost smiled at the thought but he was not alone in the room.

"Carson, can you tell Anna that I will wear my red dress tonight? I think it needs to get pressed." She bowed her head a bit and looked up at him with a most heart-melting look. Charles was reminded of the young Lady Mary that would always climb on his lap and listen to the stories he had made up for her. She had the same pleading look on her face back then.

"Of course, milady."

ooooo

Outside in the great hall the hallboys were busy with the preparations for the ball. All the chairs, settees, carpets needed to be removed until tonight. So far only half of the work had been done. There were still so many tasks he had to delegate and oversee.

"Thomas," the footman came rushing into the hall. "I need you to arrange the dinner in the large dining room later. Finish whatever you have to do now and get William to help you!"

"Sure Mr. Carson."

The large carpet in the middle of the hall had already been rolled up and it took four of the young boys to carry it downstairs. To the untrained eye the large hall looked ready but Charles still saw thousand little things that needed to be taken care of. He sighed. He would not see much of Elsie during the day.

ooooo

"Mrs. Hughes?" she had not heard her voice around the downstairs corridors for a long time. It was accompanied by a knock on her door.

"Lady Sybil. What brings you here?" The young woman stood in the doorframe unsure whether to remain there or enter the room. Although it was her parent's house and she had every right to come into her sitting room whenever she liked without having to ask for permission. "You may come in."

"Mrs. Hughes," she asked again.

"What is bothering you, milady?" A small girl stood in front of her not the almost sixteen year old Lady Sybil.

She bit her lip. "There is this ball tonight and I'm supposed to open it with the first dance. Mama has just told me."

"That is a great honour, milady." She was sure Lady Sybil would make a wonderful debutante tonight. She was elegant in her moves yet still a little childish sometimes. Elsie could already see her dancing with her father across the large hall, admired by all the guests. But obviously Lady Sybil was not so sure of her abilities.

"See, I can dance but I've never been good at the waltz."

Now Elsie fully understood Lady Sybil's concern and could not hide her smile. "And now you are asking me for help?"

She nodded. "Well, I'm not a good dancer but I will try my best to help you."

Lady Sybil's face brightened up and Elsie let out a small sigh. On top of the preparations for tonight she was now also giving dance lessons to the youngest daughter of the house. Her skills and knowledge concerning this matter were certainly insufficient but if she was able to give Lady Sybil some support then she had to. She tried to remember the last time when she had actually danced. Once a year, his Lordship hosted the annual servant's ball. She only ever danced the first waltz and then returned either to her seat or remained standing in one of the corners of the large hall, observing the others. Last year she had taken the liberty and accepted Charles' offer for a second dance. But apart from this annual event she had no time to think of dancing.

"Thank you Mrs. Hughes. Can I come downstairs again after luncheon then?"

"Of course."

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><p><em>So this is the first idea of it. Let me know what you think about it. And PLEASE if anyone can come up with a good title - let me know!<em> 


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N Sorry for the delay but it's so difficult to write a funny story. Angst/Drama is much easier :) And because I've read four updated stories today, I HAD to finish this second chapter now. Thanks to Batwings79 for the suggestions she gave me. (some of it will come in ch. 3 though)_

**As always: none of the characters belong to me. They are the intellectual property of Mr. Fellowes. And they are a bit OOC here...**

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><p>Usually luncheon was not the busiest time of the day. But due to the many things that still had to be organized before the ball, Charles had almost forgotten to ring the dressing gong. He hurried back downstairs to make sure that Mrs. Patmore had everything ready and that Thomas and William were back from preparing the large dining room.<p>

"Is everything ready?" he was a bit out of breath when he entered the kitchen.

"Sure. Why should it not be?" Mrs. Patmore shot him a quizzical look. "But you are a bit late Mr. Carson."

Being reprimanded by the cook usually was something he did not at all tolerate but today he did not care as long as everything was somehow running smoothly. "What about dinner?"

"In the making." Mrs. Patmore answered and looked at him as if she was waiting for more useless questions that kept her from her work. And she was probably right. He had asked pointless question besides, this day started to get on his nerves. "Anything else you want to know? If so: ask, I don't have time to guess your questions."

"Just make sure that all will be finished in time." He sighed and rubbed his forehead. Why did he start this conversation?

"Everything all right Mr. Carson?" her voice suddenly came from out of nowhere and he immediately regained his composure. "You look a bit stressed out." She smiled up at him and gently touched his arm as if to make sure he noticed that she was there. He was glad that she had interrupted this little argument before it got out of hand. Fortunately, Mrs. Patmore had turned away as soon as Elsie had appeared and was now busy with what looked like a large cake.

"Perfectly all right, Mrs. Hughes." He gave her hand a small squeeze. "Thank you for rescuing me out of Mrs. Patmore's clutches."

"You are welcome." She slowly withdrew her hand and added. "When you battle with the cook you can always rely on my help. The housekeeper traditionally wins this fight." Then she left the kitchen to make her way up the stairs. He was tempted to gaze after her like he often did when he was sure that no one else was observing him. She was a pleasant sight when walking up the stairs and she knew that he enjoyed watching her. But just then Thomas entered the kitchen to take the first dishes upstairs to the dining room.

ooooo

She went over the dance steps in her head, trying to remember how to make a turn but only imagining the waltz did not help her at all. She was too out of practice. So Elsie stood up and closed the door to her sitting room before she moved her armchair and the side table out of the way. If anyone witnessed what she was about to do no one would ever again take her seriously. She already regretted to have agreed to help Lady Sybil. All of this was taking up too much of her time. Still, it was Valentine's Day and she had never been good at denying a request from the youngest Crawley daughter.

It was absurd to dance without a partner in the middle of her sitting room. However it was the only possibility she had to refresh her dancing skills. Her dancing partner of choice was unavailable at the moment and she expected Lady Sybil to knock at her door any minute. She managed to find the right steps for the turn and almost pushed over the small table. Enough! The rest would come to her mind by instructing Lady Sybil.

Her door opened a crack. "Mrs. Hughes are you busy?"

Elsie smiled at the dark haired girl that hesitantly opened the door a bit wider. "Not at all milady. Shall we start right away?"

Lady Sybil nodded shyly. "No one knows that I'm downstairs so we have to hurry a bit I'm afraid." She slipped into the room and closed the door behind her. "What should I do?"

"Shall we start with the easy steps?" Elsie suggested and took the young lady's hand while positioning herself next to her.

ooooo

He was finally satisfied with the result. Everything was at its proper place and the hallboys had even managed to bring in some of the large perennials from the greenhouse in to give the large hall a festive atmosphere. Now was the time to relax a bit until the first guests would arrive. Moreover he had to prepare his little surprise. He had planned to have it all set days ago but then his Lordship had spontaneously decided to give Lady Sybil an early birthday present by hosting a Valentine's Ball. So Charles' schedule had been completely disorganized.

He let William do the final touches to the decoration and made his way upstairs to the men's quarters, hopefully unnoticed. Once in the corridor he made sure that no one else was about before he opened the door to the attic. He was halfway up the steep staircase when he heard someone approaching.

"Mr. Carson?" Mr. Bates' voice carried up to him. Obviously his plan was doomed to fail. He descended the steps until he stood in the doorframe where the valet had waited for him.

"What is it, Mr. Bates?" he hoped he did not sound too irritated.

"Mrs. Hughes is looking for you. Apparently Her Ladyship has made some last minute changes to the dinner tonight and you ought to select a different wine."

Of all things! He had a hard time to hide his frustration. "Tell her I will be downstairs in a minute."

Charles waited for Mr. Bates to leave the men's quarters before he made a second start on the attic. The wine could wait for a few more minutes, he thought, but regretted his decision the moment he saw the state which the attic was in. He could not remember to have left it like this. Dust blew up when he set his feet to the wood floor and the chilly air was causing his breath to condense. Charles quickly shoved away some of the boxes that blocked the way until he discovered the object he had been looking for. To his surprise it was heavier than he remembered. Getting it downstairs was certainly a physical impossibility. Charles nevertheless somehow managed to carry it to the threshold but had to leave it there. Preparing dinner was more important now though not his highest priority.

ooooo

"Mr. Bates did you inform Mr. Carson about the wine?" There was hardly any time left before the first guests would arrive and Elsie was getting nervous. Mr. Carson was never late especially not on days such as today.

"He had to get something from the attic and said he will take care of the wine as soon as possible."

Before she had a chance to ask what was so important in the attic that it caused a delay to their tight schedule tonight, Charles appeared on top of the stairs.

"Please excuse my delay, Mrs. Hughes." He brushed some dust off his sleeve. "There was something I had to finish off first." The look on his face was supposed to be apologetically but Elsie noticed that his eyes were sparkling at the same time. He had been up to something that did not involve any household matters. She was sure of that and by now more than curious.

"Then we better discuss the changes her Ladyship made to the dinner so that you can choose a new wine." Elsie led him into the kitchen for another encounter with Mrs. Patmore who was still in a rage. He had to endure the cook now as a sort of punishment for his lateness.

"Finally! Mr. Carson I cannot cook this dinner when they are altering it every other minute!" Arms akimbo the cook looked up to him with a reddened face whereas Elsie took a step backwards to watch the conversation from a safe distance.

"Mrs. Patmore there is no need to worry. I will reselect the wine and you will prepare the additional dish. I'm sure that the guest will most probably not all arrive at once so we have plenty of time to make all the necessary preparations."

Mrs. Patmore let her arms down to her side a somehow dumbfounded look on her face now. "All right. If you say so."

Amazingly, Charles had managed to win this fight without her help. "Bravo," she whispered when he turned around.

ooooo

The guests arrived one by one like Charles had predicted. Soon the large hall was crowded with friends of Sybil's, acquaintances and family members. Thomas and William walked around and offered aperitifs. The hallboys took care of the wet coats and umbrellas. It was still raining heavily outside.

Slowly everyone made their way upstairs to the large dining room and left a bit of a chaos behind downstairs. Charles assigned two of the boys to take the empty glasses down to the kitchen. The footmen were needed in the dining room now soon. So they all hurried downstairs to bring the food and the wine up.

"Hurry up a bit," Charles carried two decanters and was followed by Anna with another two. Everyone was busy but they were a well trained team. At first glance their actions seemed hectic but they all knew what to do and where to go.

Soon the kitchen was empty, the hustle and bustle had died down. It continued upstairs with the maids, footmen and the butler serving the dinner to the festive company. Charles gave his instructions before they started the first course and then made his excuse. There was still another pressing thing he had to see to.

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><p><strong>Do you want to see some dancing? :)<strong>


	3. Chapter 3

_Thanks for the review so far! They always make my day! _

_A/N Just another chapter of a silly little "in between" fanfic. _

**The characters are not my invention. They belong to ITV, Julian Fellowes, Carnival. **

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><p>Elsie could hear the musicians tune up their instruments, a violin, contrabass, some flutes, when she opened the door to the large hall. Dinner was almost over and the guest ready for the main part of the evening. Soon they would crowd the hall, talking, dancing, and making this night a very special one for Lady Sybil. From her position she could overlook the ongoing preparations. Everyone was busy again and she wondered if the people in the dining room at all knew what was happening around them and who prepared this wonderful evening for them. For them, the servants remained invisible.<p>

She banished this thought quickly. Who was she to judge her position in society? Maybe it was because of Valentine's Day and of all the happy faces around her. All the flirting and dreamy looks she would soon witness when the ball began just made her realize once more that she would never be able to openly show her affections she had for this one particular man. Before she could lose herself more in her thoughts she fully stepped into the hall to supervise the work. It would distract her, keep her busy and most of all it made her stop thinking about the present she was about to give him later.

"Lily, make sure that the tables are cleared regularly. I don't want to see any empty glasses later." The housemaid curtseyed and proceeded with arranging the large bouquets of red roses that were spread all across the large hall. Her Ladyship had overdone it a bit, Elsie thought while absentmindedly touching one of the soft red rosebuds.

"Mrs. Hughes," Anna came hurrying down the stairs, "they have finished dinner. Mr. Carson instructed me to tell you that they can start the music as soon as dinner is over."

She withdrew her hand quickly from the roses. "Thank you Anna." And the housemaid scurried past her down to the kitchen. Elsie approached the group of musicians just as Thomas opened the large double doors of the dining room. She could hear the cheerful voices and the laughter that for the rest of the evening would intertwine with the music and the dancing.

ooooo

He had somehow managed to get the heavy gramophone down from the attic. Though carrying it further along the corridor and to the place where he initially wanted to set it up proved to be impossible at the moment. So Charles left it in his room for now where it would most likely remain for the rest of the evening. Their Valentine's Day was cursed.

A look at his watch told him that he had completely lost track of time. The dinner was over by now and he was still absorbed in his private matters. The day was indeed wicked, he thought as he made his way downstairs and into the great hall as fast as he could. The music had already started when he opened the door. Though, to his relief, nobody had opened the ball yet. At least he was not that late.

He made his way across the hall to where she stood next to one of the larger tables, observing the guests. Her fingers were tapping a rhythm on the surface of the table. He could tell that she enjoyed the music a lot and was reminded of his plan again and how much he wanted to surprise her with their own private ball. Just the two of them.

"Mr. Carson, where have you been?" she took her hand away from the table and eyed him curiously. "William was already looking for you. It seems to me that you are a bit distracted today."

He cleared his throat. "Let's say that I had one other important thing to do, Mrs. Hughes and I lost track of time. But as far as I can see, everything runs the way it should." He winked at her, making her smile a little and hoped that he had not given away too much.

"You better get back to your work," she gave his elbow a quick squeeze. "We will have enough time to discuss the day later."

ooooo

In the middle of the room, Lady Sybil stood next to her father, surrounded by so many people that Elsie could almost not see her. Still she could feel that the young girl looked in her direction obviously waiting for her to give her the one encouraging smile before she opened the ball with a waltz. Their eyes finally met and Elsie noticed that Lady Sybil was nervous but at the same time happy to be the centre of attention. _You can do it, _she whispered and smiled at her. Then the musicians set in with the first beats of a classic waltz.

She watched how the youngest daughter gracefully moved across the hall, led by her father. She swept past Elsie wearing a big grin on her face then they managed a perfect turn and returned to the middle of the dance floor. Somehow Elsie was proud that Sybil had confided in her.

Everyone was moving now and the atmosphere was more festive than on Christmas Eve. For a short moment she wished to be part of it all, dancing with them, enjoying an evening without work and her daily household duties. But the day would come to an end sooner or later and she could at least look forward to her own private Valentine's Day. Until then, her main priority was to make this ball one to be remembered.

ooooo

"William I need you to take care of the refreshments. Get Anna to help you with it." He handed him a tray with empty glasses which the footman balanced in one hand at first. When the glasses dangerously slid to one side, he decided to take it in both hands instead. Much to Charles relief who had already seen the fine crystal glasses shattered on the floor. Until this small incident, the ball was running perfectly and Charles had managed to delegate most of the tasks. But leaving his staff alone a second time to finally finish his private Valentine's Day preparations did not feel right. He was in charge tonight and if anything happened in his absence it would ruin everything and he would blame himself endlessly.

"You look a bit distressed Mr. Carson." He had not noticed that Bates had approached him. "For me everything looks perfectly fine."

"It is, Mr. Bates. There is nothing you need to worry about." Charles wondered if the expression on his face was so telling to everyone or if just Bates had noticed that he was troubling his mind with private matters.

"Is it about the thing you wanted to get down from the attic?" The valet did not stop his interrogation though he usually did not at all interfere in other people's life, especially not in Charles' life. "I'm sorry Mr. Carson if I speak up so bluntly."

Charles was about to reprimand the man when an idea crossed his mind. "For once I do not reprimand you, Mr. Bates because I would like you to do me a favour."

ooooo

"Oh Mrs. Hughes, wasn't this wonderful?" Lady Sybil danced around her, face flushed and her eyes sparkling. "I did not once step on Papas feet or bounced into the other couples." She took one of the roses out of a vase and then stopped next to Elsie to place a brief kiss on her cheek. "Thank you."

"Milday, may I remind you that you will be 16 in a few days and that it is not appropriate to show your affection for the staff the way you just did," she said it with a smile and accepted the rose, Lady Sybil handed her.

"I don't care at all Mrs. Hughes because I had a jolly good evening!" The girl danced away across the floor back to the very few people that were still present. It was about midnight and Elsie wondered when they could finally finish their work. She had sent some of the maids to bed already because the poor girls were almost falling asleep with exhaustion. William and Thomas were still around, making sure that empty glasses got carried away and fresh drinks were at hand. Elsie stifled a yawn and regretted it the next minute when she saw who was observing her from the distance.

He made his way along the empty hall. "What did Lady Sybil want from you?" he asked curiously. "I cannot remember seeing the two of you so close lately."

She looked up at him. "I gave her some dancing lessons earlier today."

The expression on his face was priceless. It ranged between enormous astonishment and complete disbelief. "Since when are you an expert when it comes to dancing?"

He deserved the slap on his arm she gave him for this comment. "If I remember correctly it was you who always stepped on my toes. Besides, we hardly ever danced properly at the servant's ball."

"Then why don't we take this night as an opportunity to practice our dancing skills."

Now it was her turn to look surprised. "Am I missing something here? The ball is almost over and we have plenty of work ahead of us. When would we find the time to dance, Mr. Carson? Unless there is something you are keeping secret from me?"He had indeed hinted at something earlier and she had noticed that he did let himself get distracted too easy today. So it was not only her who had made plans for Valentine's Day.

"May I invite you to my sitting room as soon as we have finished work?"

"Certainly, Mr. Carson."

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><p><strong><em>I know, they are actually just standing around in this chapter. More "Action" after the break.<em>**


	4. Chapter 4

_The final (very short) chapter of a short fanfic :) Enjoy reading!_

_Thanks for all the reviews so far!_

_A/N I do not own the characters though I wish I had invented them. No copyright infringement intended. The characters and the show are an invention by Mr. Fellowes. _

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><p>She put the single red rose into one of the small vases she kept on the shelf in her sitting room and placed it on the table next to the little box. A perfect arrangement for their private Valentine's Day celebrations though it was already one in the morning. She had not expected the ball to go on for that long. But finally, all the guests had either gone home or stayed for the night in one of the upstairs bedrooms. The only people in the house that were still awake were the butler and the housekeeper.<p>

Elsie had sent Anna, William and Thomas to bed already thirty minutes ago and was now waiting for Charles to finish his rounds. She sat down and could not stifle the yawn anymore. She had longed for the solitude of the late evening hours, but right now she was so tired that she would probably fall asleep in his arms right away. A look at the clock on the mantelpiece told her that yet another ten minutes had passed. There was still no sign or sound of him. The only noise she heard came from the rain outside and the soft ticking of her clock. A shiver ran down her spine and she suddenly noticed how damp and cold the room was. She had not been in here for hours so the fire she had started half an hour ago had not yet warmed the place enough. Furthermore, the constant rain always made her freeze. She decided to put another log into the fire and to light one of the candles she kept in her drawer for special occasions. _You are getting very romantic now, Elsie. _

Another five minutes passed before she could hear the familiar footfall coming along the corridor. "Finally alone." He stood in the doorway of her sitting room. "You must be very tired. At least I am."

"It's past one o'clock already and it was a long and tiring day. But I'm still awake enough for our own Valentine's Day celebrations." She stepped closer and took his hand to lead him into her room. "Besides I'm cold and could need someone to warm me up."

"I know just the right person who is perfect in warming Elsie Hughes up," he chuckled and reached out to embrace her, but Elsie stopped him.

"Before we start with that I would like to give you this." She reached for the small box and adjusted the red ribbon one last time before she handed it to him.

"Didn't we agree that there should be no presents this Valentine's Day?" he asked, smiling, but Elsie just looked at him instead of answering his question. She did not want to wait any longer because this box had been in her drawer for too long now already. She had found his present in Ripon right after Christmas and decided to buy it though unsure when she would find the right occasion to give it to Charles.

He removed the ribbon slowly. The lid of the box sprung open with a click and revealed to shiny golden cufflinks. He carefully took them out of the box. "Elsie, this is…!" Charles Carson was seldom speechless.

She stepped closer and took the box from his hands. "How about _Thank you Elsie?"_ she reached for his cuffs to remove his usual cufflinks and fasten the new ones. "I remembered the day when you had lost one of the silver ones and we could not find it anymore. Since then you only had this pair. I thought it would be nice to have a spare one in case another cufflink goes missing." She stood on tiptoes and kissed his cheek.

"Thank you, this is the most thoughtful gift I ever got." He drew her into an embrace and tenderly stroked her back.

Elsie closed her eyes and enjoyed this moment of closeness to the fullest. This time of the day was the only possibility for both of them to have some privacy. Sometimes they could just share ten minutes, on other occasions several hours. Today she'd rather stay awake as long as possible ignoring the tiredness.

She could feel his breath close to her ear and then heard him whisper, "It's time for your gift now." He loosened the embrace, went over to the table and took the rose out of the vase. "Happy Valentine's Day, my dear. Now, would you please follow me?"

ooooo

Before he allowed her to step into his pantry, Charles quickly opened the door to make sure that Mr. Bates had in fact arranged everything the way he had told him to. As far as he knew, William had also been let in on his plan and he hoped the boy would keep it secret as well. He would never be able to explain to the rest of the staff why he had a gramophone in his pantry.

"Just one more minute." How adorable she looked with the rose in her hands, he thought. And how lucky he was to have her all for himself this night. He closed the door behind him, rekindled the fire and lit the hand lamp on his desk. The record was already set on the turntable all he had to do was turn the crank and set the needle down. A soft melody escaped from the gramophone and he opened the door again to let Elsie in.

She stood there and gasped, at him, at the music. "Where did you get that?"

"How about _Thank you Charles?"_ he teased her, before he took her hand, put his hand on her hip and started to slowly dance with her through the room. She beamed up at him, her eyes sparkled. He had longed for this moment all day long. For weeks he had this plan in his head and until a few hours ago he had doubted that it would actually work out after all. Not after all the trouble he had gone through today. They made a turn, and he swirled her around, causing her to laugh out loud.

"Thank you so much for this wonderful surprise. It's perfect." She stopped and pulled his head down to kiss him deeply. After that Charles held her closer than necessary. In fact her head rested on his chest and they were barely moving forward anymore. The needle scratched on the record and eventually the tune was over but Charles did not want to let Elsie go now. Instead they continued to dance slowly to a melody that played only in their heads.

"This is the most perfect Valentine's Day I ever had." He heard her murmur into his chest.

"You are perfect," he whispered in reply. "And without you I would have hardly survived this day."

She raised her head to look at him. "Would you mind coming over to my sitting room and hold me for while now?"

"Still cold?" he touched one of her hands which were indeed freezing. "I thought that the dancing would warm you up but obviously it did not." Charles released the embrace a bit and took the needle from the record. Then he grasped the hand lamp and followed Elsie into her sitting room.

ooooo

Her room was much warmer than his pantry but still Elsie was feeling bit cold. She sat down on her settee and waited until Charles had closed the door behind him. For a while he just stood there, looking down at her, smiling and she wondered what he was thinking. "What is it?"

"Nothing." He finally sat down next to her. "I was just enjoying the view."

"It's much better from where you sit now. You can enjoy all the details even more." Her fingers touched his lips, then the side of his chin and ran from there down his neck towards his shoulder.

His breath quickened and Elsie felt how his arm encircled her waist and his hand drew her face closer to his lips. "I can't look at all the details often enough." He breathed against her lips before he kissed her.

A warm sensation ran through her body, better than the fire in the fireplace behind her and better than his warm hands on her back. She deepened the kiss by opening her mouth and letting his tongue into it. This was indeed the best Valentine's Day she ever had. His hands started to fumble at the back of her dress. She had several buttons that fastened it at the neck. Charles managed to open quickly without ending the kiss but when he reached out for the front of her garment, Elsie had to withdraw to give him more room for his hands.

"Do you really want to do this now and here?" she teased him, well aware that the question was unnecessary. She could see by a look into his eyes that he was as much longing for a night with her as she was.

Instead of giving her an answer he slowly removed first his tie, than his collar and at last the new cufflinks. "We still have five hours until the night is over." And he took her face into his hands to give her another passionate kiss.

* * *

><p><em>I'm not very good at T rated stuff that's why it ends here. Sorry for that. Let me know what you think :)<em>


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